Sunday, August 29, 2010

After a few days at a resort in Cairns it was down to Sydney. I haven't been back to my hometown now for about 9 years and had almost forgotten how beautiful it is and how much I like it. We will be here staying at the Hyde Park Plaza until the 4th of September so if any one wants to join me for a morning jog around the harbour, or something, let me know.

Yesterday we went up the coast and stayed with my Aunt at Jerry's Plains, a country town far west of Newcastle. It was bloody cold last night. woke up at 4:00am this morning and drove to Lake Macquarie for my 10.5K race. Not the best of prep going in but good course and I was able to squeezed out a PB for the 10K doing 35:35 and getting an age group first place to boot.

That's it for running here I'll just be jogging and trying to put on a few pounds before we head back and I start my training again in earnest then

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Just coming up after a bout of sickness that included stomachaches, constipation, headaches and dizziness. It was pretty bad for a few days there and although the doctor doesn't know exactly what caused it, we think it was a combination of dehydration, too much running, that 5K in the heat was a bad idea, and a change of diet, sushi to beef and kidney pies.

Anyway, I'm still alive and I've learn my lesson this time. Going to start to really think about what I'm doing in regards to my health and running. After looking over the new schedule I got from Marius Bakken, thanks Rick, I realized that I was making a lot of mistakes in training and according to MB, doing it a bit backwards.

Anyway I have learnt a lot from my marathon and this trip and I'll take this into the next training and hopefully really hit it next time.

Next week I go to my home town of Sydney, Manly here I come, and back to Japan in early September to start marathon training again, and work :( I have one more 10K here before I go up at Lake Macquarie on the 29th (can anyone come?) and if I can pull up from this sickness I'll give it a go for a PB there. Did I say I've learnt my lesson?

The photos below are of my FNQ family great Aunts, cousins, the Sugar Cane Farmers, these are the giants of the family as you can see. But sadly only their sense of humor was passed on to me. The other photos are of me and Emi on a romantic trip to the Atherton Tablelands and us again at a memorial service we had, with some family, for my Dad that passed away early this year. We laid him to rest in Gordonvale Cemetery.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Me and my Sister x 2, me and my boys and me coming to the end of the race.

Ran the 5.6K race, that was part of the Great Pyramid Race Festival, today.

Running a 5K race only six days after a marathon is ill advised but if I only did things that made sense I wouldn't even leave the house. While it was hot and the course was more of a cross country than a road race I ran pretty well. And although the total was 5.6kms I crossed the 5K mark in 16:52 so I'll take that as my new 5K PB ;)

Got 3rd overall and 3rd in the open division (anyone over 18) the two boys that beat me 15 and 17 years old also qualified for the "Open" division, I don't know how that works but it's their race ;)

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Below is part of an article on the run from the "Townsville Bulletin."

Marathon runner-up and Osaka resident Scott Brown, who at 45 years young competed in his third Townsville Running Festival, said he had eventual winner Revelian in his sights early on in the run.

"I watched his back for the first 15 kilometres, but he was so smooth, at every turn he got further in front," Brown said.

"And everyone who I passed along the way were yelling at me 'you can get him, you can get him', but I had no doubts he would win.

"I slowed down and he sped up I think, but I suppose finishing second isn't so bad for an old guy, I turn 46 next week."

That is just part of the story to feed the media frenzy now for you, my loyal 10 readers, I'll give the inside scoop.

I't may seem like I'm an ingrate to be disappointed with my result but you all know how hard I trained for this and it is all relative. I simply should have run faster and I know this race wasn't a true reflection of my ability. While I have to be honest and take pause with my goal of sub 2:30:00 I haven't given up on it. On the right day if everything comes together I just may give it a nudge. Still, for me it's not about time anymore I just want to run my best before my time runs out.

Yes, here they come, the excuses.

I was on sub 2:37:00 time right through the 25K mark taking splits at the first two 10K marks and one 5K mark but on the run out of the city it got kind of lonely, I was running by myself for the 1st two city loops too but there were people around and I could cheer and be cheered by fellow runners on the turn arounds there, but the almost 20K out and back gave me some trouble.

Firstly I lost my sense of pace, secondly, I began to cramp up on both sides of the back of my legs and thirdly, my feet were burning up. I wore these really light ASICS flats that I had only done about 10K in before the race, while they did help me in the first 15K with speed they slowed me down in the end as my poor puppies took such a pounding, one that I haven't felt since my first few marathons. Might not totally be the shoes' fault maybe I just have to run more long runs in flats. Who knows?

At any rate I lost a good ten minutes on the last 15K. Frankly I could have/should have put in an all out effort but I was worried that this would have brought the cramps to a head and stopped me dead so I just did enough to get me safely to second place. A little "soft" of me I know. In the final analysis I'm not disappointed I ran this race, nor that I placed second to such a good runner as Oswald it is just it could have been so much better than it ended up.

Anywho, this is what I like about the marathon, there are no guarantees, of course you have to prepare but it will always require respect and lady luck to shine on the day. We just have to remain humble and keep on hitting it until it pays off, one way or another.

In all other respects the Townsville marathon is one of the best races I've been in and I recommend it to anyone.

Sunday, August 08, 2010

Somehow, some reason hard to finish off the race today but very pleased with the age group win and overall second! Tanzanians are hard to beat afterall ;) My time 2:47:59 offical. I'd say I'm disappointed, and I am, but can't be too much so as I'm surrounded by family and friends in paradise and on to my 4th schooner, no they aren't boats.

Tuesday, August 03, 2010

G'day, sorry not to have been posting much of late but out of my usual situation here and not finding the time to do it. Anyway talking about time, it's crunch time and this weekend I'll race the Townsville marathon (5:30 am the 8th of August). I'm getting excited and have run through the race a few times in my head. The scenarios range from a blow out to a PB and everything in between but even with a less than perfect last two weeks, mileage has dropped to about 60K a week, I'm expecting I'll be able to achieve one of the following goals: A sub 2:40 (excellent) a sub 2:45 (good) and a sub 2:50 (fair).

I did a few faster intervals last week and a couple of marathon pace 5K runs. I found one of these 5K runs I was able to go 1 min under my marathon pace with relative ease but the other one I struggled and was 2 minutes over. So I don't know how I'll go but I have a feeling that running in the cool of the morning and with the excitement of race day I can do it and besides there is no place for doubt or fear once the gun goes, racing tends to bring out the best in my running. I won't say I'll win it as there are too many variables, like who turns up and how I pace myself but I'll do my best and go into it expecting to do well.

There is only one thing that has me a bit worried. You would think that with all my Ks going into this I'd be confident but I reckon I need a strong fast pack to pull me through to a really fast time and this being a "smaller marathon" I will probably find myself either by myself out front or trailing some rabbit by myself. Either way I fear I'll be on my "Pat Malone" a lot and I'll find it hard to concentrate and race hard the whole way.

Followers

QUOTES

"No one would have crossed the ocean if he could have gotten off the ship in the storm"

Charles Kettering

"Do not be too moral, you may cheat yourself out of much life. Aim above morality. Be not simply good, be good for something."

Henry David Thoreau

“We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all we need to make us happy is something to be enthusiastic about.”

Charles Kingsley

"Happiness is different from pleasure. Happiness has something to do with struggling and enduring and accomplishing."

George Sheehan

"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those that matter don't mind."

Dr. Seuss

"In case you haven't been keeping track of current events, we just got our asses kicked."

Soldier, from the movie Aliens.

"Suffering is the sole origin of consciousness."

Dostoyefsky

"Running is the most universal sport on the planet. Every able bodied human being has competed in a running race. There has, and always will be, running. Running is even more universal than sex, more universal than any other accomplishment, more universal than any language, art or music genre. The best runners in the world are the ultimate human beings. "

Sean Williams

“Believe in yourself, know yourself, deny yourself, and be humble.”

John Treacy

"What do we live for if not to make life less difficult for each other?"

Roger Bannister

"You manage what you measure"

old management adage

"A quality shoe cushions the foot. It helps absorb against the impact of an unforgiving terrain. It also provides support against ankle roll, ruptured Achilles. And in some instances……….. Death!"

"Coach" Rick Hoffman

"That man is the richest whose pleasures are the cheapest"

Henry David Thoreau

"There are no limits, there are only plateaus, and you must go beyond them"
Bruce Lee

Magazine Covers

From top to bottom:

Emi and I, my youngest son, (now grown up a bit), my Japanese niece, myself (still not grown up at all), the family, my eldest son (now grown up a bit).

SELF HELP

"Without knowing it, you may be ascribing to other people the feelings you are experiencing yourself. Because you hate yourself, you think other people hate you. This is known as projection. sometimes of course other people really do hate you. This is known as hatred. There is not much you can do about it. You're probably just the sort of person that people hate."

Road Rage

"To avoid succumbing to road rage, close your eyes and imaging you are lying in a beautiful meadow on a summer's day. Touch the blades of grass. Smell the wild flowers. See the butterflies flitting past.

Hear the sound of tearing metal as you drive into the car in front of you."

Victim

"You are a victim because you believe you don't deserve any better. It doesn't always have to be this way. Let somebody else be a victim for a change. Next time you're walking down a busy street, push somebody else under a bus and shout, 'look a victim, and it's somebody else!'

Deal with any residual guilt feelings by using Reiki healing techniques."

The inner core

"Lie down in a grassy park and relax completely. Close your eyes. Access your deep inner core by listening to your breathing. After a few minutes, you will find yourself suffused by a feeling of warmth.